IBM has launched a global blockchain network for cross-border payments that will use both stable coin backed by U.S. dollars and cryptocurrency to make near real-time cross border financial transactions.

Blockchain spending is now expected to reach $12.4 billion within three years, according to IDC, with the U.S. spending more on the distributed ledger technology than any other region of the world.

Blockchain has been accused by detractors as nothing more than a more complicated and expensive database. While both technologies offer data storage and management, blockchain has one unique feature a database will never replicate.

Companies are keen to try blockchain to address key business needs such as efficient transactions and immutable audit trails. But many aren't taking advantage of the distributed ledger's most innovative features.

JPM Coin, the first of its kind from a major bank, will initially be used to transfer funds over a blockchain network internally and between internationally between institutional clients.

The much-hyped distributed ledger technology (DLT) has the potential to eliminate huge amounts of record-keeping, save money, streamline supply chains and disrupt IT in ways not seen since the internet arrived.

Sharding could be the key to allowing blockchains to scale, while maintaining the privacy and security features that make the distributed ledger technology so hot. But there are hurdles that need to be addressed.

Seven universities are collaborating to create a blockchain-based online payment system that will solve issues of scalability, privacy, security and performance, enabling up to 10,000 transactions per second

Blockchain technology is being piloted as the basis for self-sovereign identities, which can eliminate user names and passwords for logging into corporate sites or verify sensitive information such as income for purposes of a loan...

After a year where cryptocurrencies lost 80% of their value, and the hype around blockchain as a panacea for business transaction problems has cooled, 2019 will be a year of building real-world solutions.

New York-based ShelterZoom is going live soon with its blockchain-based real estate offer-and-acceptance application; it's one of several ways companies are testing out the distributed ledger technology.

Ohio businesses can now use the cryptocurrency to pay their taxes and view the transactions in real time online via a transparent blockchain ledger.

Data from job-search site Indeed shows interest in those with blockchain development skills, including the creation of cryptocurrencies, has waned as bitcoin's value – and the hype around it – has fallen over the past year.

Ernst & Young has created a public blockchain prototype it plans to launch in 2019 that lets companies transact with any number of partners in an open network while protecting the privacy of each participant and their data.